Colorado House Bill 26-1286 would effectively ban driverless commercial trucks

A version of the following public comment was submitted to members of the Colorado House Transportation, Housing & Local Government Committee on March 18, 2026.

Our assessment of House Bill 26-1286 is based on my more than 15 years of research on the law and policy related to driving automation. We share the goal of ensuring the safe operation of automated driving systems on public roadways; however, we believe HB 26-1286 is deficient in several key respects.

Based on failed California legislation

HB 26-1286 is based on legislation introduced in California in 2023 (Assembly Bill 316) and 2024 (Assembly Bill 2286). In both cases, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the proposed bans on driverless trucks as unnecessary and harmful to the state's reputation as a global leader in technology innovation. To date, no state has enacted a statutory ban on driverless trucks. In contrast, three dozen states have explicitly authorized the testing and/or deployment of autonomous trucks if certain safety requirements are met.

Banning autonomous trucks won't make Colorado roads safer

The major advantage of automated driving systems is that they do not behave like typical human drivers. Automated driving systems cannot drive drunk, drugged, drowsy, or distracted, and are programmed to follow the rules of the road. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, human error/misbehavior is a critical factor in more than 90% of motor vehicle crashes.

Research by leading reinsurance company SwissRe and autonomous vehicle developer Waymo found that Waymo's automated driving system is already far safer than that of a typical human driver. Their study analyzed 25.3 million fully autonomous miles driven by Waymo, along with 500,000 insurance claims and over 200 billion miles of driving exposure. Waymo/Swiss Re found that, compared with human drivers, Waymo's automated driving system resulted in an 88% reduction in property damage claims and a 92% reduction in bodily injury claims.

It is worth noting that Colorado's roads are already among the most dangerous in the region. According to Reason Foundation's 28th Annual Highway Report, Colorado had the 40th-worst urban highway fatality rate in the country and ranked #47 in its rural highway fatality rate.

A more effective path forward

Colorado law already authorizes the Department of Transportation to ensure that driverless vehicles comply with vehicle safety and traffic rules, and the State Patrol is empowered to impound or immobilize unsafe driverless vehicles. (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 42-4-242)

Autonomous commercial motor vehicles are currently operating in commercial service on public roads in Arizona, Arkansas, and Texas, with multiple firms planning to expand these services throughout the country.